1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods for exchanging and locating information on computer networks, and more particularly, to a method and system for hosting information exchange groups on a wide area network.
2. Description of Related Art
Wide area networks, such as the Internet, provide a vast and growing source of information to a large and growing number of users on demand. One of the great advantages of exchanging information on a wide area network is that users, and groups of users, may readily exchange information with one another, both contemporaneously and at different times. However, the quantity, dynamics and decentralized nature of information on the Internet and other factors create obstacles to the exchange of information among the users.
Various ways of exchanging information within groups of users, such as information exchange groups are known in the art. For example, Web based bulletin boards, “usenet” news groups, and chat rooms are forms of prior art information exchange groups. Prior art information exchange groups do not realize the benefits and advantages possible in consideration of the Internet, the World Wide Web, Internet browsers, and human behavior. Prior art information exchange groups do not provide a systematic method for discriminating between desired and undesired information. Therefore, prior art information exchange groups contain limited quantities of desired information, which tends to be randomly interspersed within a much larger collection of undesired information having little or no information value.
For example, prior art information exchange groups are intruded upon by advertisements and deluged by inappropriate posts and arguments among posters. Knowledgeable users, i.e., “experts,” on a particular topic are frequently unavailable, thereby limiting the amount of useful information that can be obtained. Other problems that exist include, for example, the inability of these groups to be located by end users, the lack of specificity of the topics discussed, or the lack of participation in the group by all but a fraction of wide area network users due to the complexity of locating a group with pertinent discussion topics and the complexity of reading and participating in the posting. Further, the nature of the groups, such as chat rooms, deters user participation for a variety of reasons. For instance, users of prior art groups, such as chat rooms, are subject to a loss of anonymity. If the user desires to be contacted, the user must post his email address. Frequently, users' email addresses are collected for commercial use, and the user is then subjected to unwanted contact from unrelated sources. Additionally, prior art groups do not effectively supplement user communications with related information, such as a list of hyperlinks to relevant sites. In addition, prior art groups do not facilitate the use or direct exchange of audio or visual information. Prior art information exchange groups do not provide users a way to conveniently create or join an information exchange group, for example, a chat room, wherein the user's e-mail address is protected from other users and from unwanted commercial use. Also, prior art groups do not provide for control by the users of the scope of information exchanged within the information exchange group. For the foregoing reasons, information exchange groups are not as widely used as they could be, nor has their full potential been realized.
Therefore, a need exists to provide for the operation of information exchange groups on a wide area network that overcomes the limitations of the prior art.